1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for thawing out frozen air lines on trains. If the lines become frozen, the brakes on the train cars cannot be released. The freezing usually is created when low temperatures cause moisture in the air lines to turn into ice, thereby blocking the passage of air. Introducing anti-freeze or alcohol into the system will drastically lower the freezing temperature of the moisture, thereby thawing it out into a liquid again, thus allowing air to flow through the lines to the brakes.
2. Description oft he Prior Art
The use of de-icers is known in the prior art. More specifically, de-icers heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of thawing out air lines are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
A typical fluid line de-icer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,013 issued to Donald W. Wilson. The de-icer disclosed includes an antifreeze solution storage tank which is mounted to the front panel of a tractor trailer. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,601 issued to Roemke discloses a pneumatic de-icer associated with an airport. None of the above mentioned de-icers are portable, and are therefore limited in their use.
In this respect, the de-icer according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of thawing out air lines in a variety of devices. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved de-icers which can be easily moved from place to place. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.